Closing remarks

140 b U ilding resilient migr A tion s Y stems in t H e mediterr A ne A n region

Administrative data collected at different points of exit from or reentry into sending countries could also provide useful insights. For instance, in Egypt, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics produces three useful annual bulletins (CAPMAS 2019): (a) “Egyptians Obtaining Approval to Migrate Abroad and Egyptians Acquiring Foreign Nationality”; (b) “Work Permits Issued for Egyptians to Work Abroad”; and (c) “Foreigners Working in Private and Investment Sectors.” The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also collects information on Egyptian citizens living abroad.

The COVID-19 crisis has drawn further attention on the importance of accessing timely labor market and migration data to ensure that adequate policy responses can be promptly introduced. The disruptions caused by the pandemic have further complicated access to timely, detailed, and representative labor market statistics, highlighting the shortcomings of traditional data collection methods and labor market definitions in this context (ILO 2020).

To address these challenges, a number of researchers have explored not only the potential use of big data to forecast migration (Zagheni, Weber, and Gummadi 2017) but also the use of online platforms to accurately and costeffectively target migrants for survey research (Pötzschke and Braun 2017). Initial results based on Google search trends and Facebook data have shown promising results but also suggest that more work is needed to fully understand how to best use these data as complements, and not substitutes, of standard sources (Tjaden 2020).

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a severe test of migration systems both in the extended Mediterranean region and globally. The region’s countries and economies responded to this public health shock but at great economic cost and with results that often revealed gaps in migration systems rather than resilience—the ability to adjust to shocks flexibly, recover quickly, and operate sustainably.

This chapter set forth the policy objectives and actions that could rebuild and even strengthen migration systems in the wake of any large shock that disrupts people’s movements, whether from a pandemic or from violent conflict, disaster, or climate change. One of these actions speaks to better developing the evidence basis for addressing new and ongoing migration challenges. Policy makers need more comprehensive, more timely data to respond quickly and effectively to the mobility disruptions, whatever their cause, that are certain to come.

As a whole, these proposed policy actions point toward a vision of migration resilience that, even during crises, can address key labor shortages, keep both migrant and native populations safer, sustain household incomes, and ameliorate blows to economic growth. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting travel restrictions, as the documented mobility trends show, the structural drivers of migration